


Must Love Dogs

by deputyperrish



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Dogs, M/M, Tampa Bay Lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 18:10:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11362863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deputyperrish/pseuds/deputyperrish
Summary: It all starts when Ben decides he wants to adopt a dog. Unfortunately for Val, he’s in the car with him when he makes this decision.





	Must Love Dogs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vidriana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vidriana/gifts).



> Shout out to [mishey](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mishey/pseuds/mishey) for betaing this on such short notice! (you're magic and ily)  
> Written for the Bolts Fic Exchange 2k17

It all starts when Ben decides he wants to adopt a dog. Unfortunately for Val, he’s in the car with him when he makes this decision.

“What do you get someone who already buys everything they want for themself?” he asks, frowning when the red Chevy in front of them can’t seem to figure out when they are supposed to turn right.

“A tie?” Val suggests halfheartedly. He’s scrolling through his email in the passenger seat, considering blocking JT and all of his dumb memes.

Ben makes a noise that makes Val look up. He’s frowning, face scrunched up in disgust. “He’s not my dad.”

Val laughs. “People buy me ties as presents all the time.”

Ben side-eyes him. “And how often do you wear them?”

“It’s the thought that counts,” Val concedes.

“Yeah, well I want the thought to say ‘ _You’re my favorite person and to prove it here’s something expensive and specific to your interests._ ’” Ben sighs, apparently having enough of the stupid car in front of them slamming on their brakes and signals, changing lanes.

“I’m sure he’ll love whatever you get,” Val soothes.

They hit a red light and slow to a stop. Ben grumbles and fiddles with the radio and when Val looks up, something in a car next to them catches his eye.

“Aw, look at the dog,” He points and Ben turns his head, eyes wide, a smile spreading across his lips.

“That’s _it_!”

 

* * *

 

They pull into the parking lot of some animal shelter he’d reluctantly googled directions to with his phone, despite trying to talk Ben into dropping him off at home first.

“You have to go with me or I’ll adopt them all!”

He tries calling Anton to get him to talk some sense into Ben, but they must have been on speakerphone, because as soon as Val got to the word ‘dog’ there was a cacophony of shrieking and a very disgruntled groan, before they were hung up on. Val felt bad for a minute, but he had his own self to worry about.

“A dog is a lot of responsibility,” He tries again, sure that gifting animals to people who haven’t explicitly said they want one is a bad idea.

“That’s why it’s not for me. Also, you’ll be there to weed out the bad eggs. I love them all already, it’s blinded me,” Ben sighs happily. There’s been a huge smile on his face for the past ten minutes and it’s making Val’s jaw ache.

“You haven’t even seen them yet.”

“I know! I’m just _so_ excited,” he says, bouncing in his seat slightly and pulling into a spot near the entrance.

He turns off the car and Val considers not getting out. He’ll be a responsible adult and put his foot down; get an Uber and hope that’s enough to discourage Ben, convince him to think this through. The big fault in his plan is not preparing himself for Ben’s puppy dog eyes before turning to tell him he’s not going through with this.

The big, dopey smile on his face doesn’t help.

He sighs, getting out of the car slowly while Ben has already jumped out and is practically shaking with energy.

“Do you even know what kind of dog you want?” Val asks, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“A big one,” Ben giggles, and it shakes all six feet and seven inches of him. Val wonders how they’re nearly the same age.

“That helps,” he rolls his eyes and pushes through the entrance first. He’s used to seeing Ben have to duck through doors, but the man sitting at the counter stares at them with raised eyebrows at the sight.  

Val looks around, noticing a few brightly decorated cork boards advertising different specials and events the shelter is doing. He goes to a table under one, looking over the a large stacks of pamphlets and grabbing all the ones that have dogs on their cover.

The man steps from behind the counter and in his arms, he’s holding a tiny kitten with an even smaller bottle pressed against its mouth. “Uh, how can I help you two?” He asks and Ben steps forward, cooing at the kitten.

Val awkwardly clears his throat, getting his attention.  

“I’m looking to adopt a dog!” He says happily. The man looks from him to Val and back again.

“Then you’ve come to the right place,” He nods for them to follow him and starts walking toward a set of doors. They’re lead out to a short hallway that connects to another building. “Have either of you adopted before?” He asks and both men shake their heads. As they enter the next building, Val is hit with the stench of dog shit and gags. Ben either has no sense of smell or is still too hyped up to notice.

They pass their first row of dogs in cell-like cubicles and Ben immediately bends down in front of one, clicking his tongue and holding out his hand. The dog eyes him warily but stays where he is laying down. Ben isn’t deterred, calling and gesturing for the dog to come.

Val looks around and despite the smell and depressing feel of the place, the cells and dogs both look clean and well fed.

Their volunteer -- still feeding the kitten -- smiles sadly down at Ben. “This guy’s a little older. He came in because his owner was put into a nursing home and the man’s kids weren’t able to take care of his dog.”

Ben frowns but stands up. The dog in the cell follows him with his eyes and when he realizes they’re finally leaving him alone, closes his eyes. Val walks towards another cell, jumping slightly as a tiny, yappy, white ball of fluff jumps against the cage door, scaring the shit out of him.

Ben laughs at him for five minutes at that as they make it through the first row of dogs, none really sticking out to either of them. Their guide finally introduces himself as Ondrej and leads them to the second row.

“I’ve got to put this little guy down, but if you need anything there are a couple volunteers working in this area who can help you and I’ll be right out front.” Then he leaves.

Val gives Ben a look.

“What?” He asks, defensively, going to stand in front of another over-excited dog who barks and jumps against the cage door aggressively.

“These dogs all seem like a lot of work,” Val says slowly.

“Any dog would be a lot of work,” Ben shrugs. “These just don’t get the benefit of being tiny and adorable when they do something bad,” He makes a face at the dog in front of him and stands, sighing. “Maybe you’re right...Maybe this isn’t a good idea. I’ll just get him a dumb tie and like, a blowjob, or something.”

Val snorts. “I didn’t need to know that last part,”

Ben rolls his eyes and they start walking down the second row towards the exit. As they arrive at the door, it bursts open and an enormous, black and white dog skids in followed by a panting brunette. They stumble into each other, Val jumping back and away from the heaping monster of a dog, reaching out to pull Ben away, too, but he seems frozen to the spot.

The man holding onto the dog has both hands wrapped around the leash and is, judging by his bulging biceps, that Val can see straining against his shirt sleeves, pretty muscular, though he’s straining to hold onto the dog. He pulls on the leash trying -- and failing -- to stop the dog from jumping up onto Ben, who laughs in surprise but accepts his fate at being covered in dog slobber.

“No, Hrom! Down!” The guy says firmly, tugging the leash, but the Dalmatian struggles, whining.

“It’s alright, it’s alright!” Ben promises, scratching the dog behind his ears. He manages to push the dog off of him and gently to the ground, but keeps scratching at his back and sides.

“I’m so sorry,” The guy says quickly. Somehow his face, already red from exertion, gets redder. Val follows the trail of red as it grows more splotchy, leading down his neck and into the collar of his shirt.

“Hey, no harm, no foul,” Ben promises, still caught up in the huge dog in front of him. “His name is Hrom?” Val tries mouthing the name silently to himself and makes a face. “That’s an interesting name,” He looks up at the guy, questioningly.

“Oh, yeah, means ‘thunder’ in Czech, I think. Uh, Pally named him that because we found him in a thunderstorm without any tags.” The man gets pulled forward suddenly when Hrom tries to jump up again, but anchors himself, pulling back on the leash. “Johnny wouldn’t let him name him thunder in English because he said it was embarrassing,”

“Sorry, did you need to put him back,” Val asks, trying to move aside so he could pass. The man turns to him for the first time, and Val wonders if he’s imagining his eyes widening.

“Um, I mean.” He stutters. “We can take him out, if you want, I don’t--”

“That’s not--,” Val starts, but the damage is already done as Ben cuts him off.

“Can we? That’d be awesome!” He continues scratching behind Hrom’s ears. Val can tell the dog is getting ready to jump again and makes sure to keep his distance.

The guy looks to Ben and then Val and smiles, large and toothy. “My name is Brayden, by the way.” He says and Val thinks, ‘ _Oh, fuck_.’

 

* * *

 

Ben falls in love with Hrom and Val has absolutely no idea why. The dog likes to bark and jump on things, but Ben has a blast running around the fenced in yard area, playing fetch and tug-o-war when Hrom didn’t want to give the toy back to be thrown. Brayden and Val sit back, watching it all, with varying expressions. Brayden, whenever Val glanced at him, looks slightly worried, but smiles nonetheless. Val tries to wear his best disappointed face, stolen from Anton, but it’s hard to maintain it when Ben smiles in his direction before once more being tackled by the massive heap of dog that wants all of his attention.

“So, what do you think?” Brayden eventually asks Val. Ben is trying to convince Hrom to give him back a ratty tennis ball.

Val shrugs. “Doesn’t really matter what I think. He’ll do what he wants, regardless,”

Brayden glances at him through furrowed brows. Val wonders at how his eyebrows and hair are both darker than the light colored fuzz on his chin. “You’re not together?”

Val snorts. “No,” He pauses, looks at Ben, then back to Brayden, eyes catching on his lips. Brayden clears his throat. Val looks away and they go back to watching Ben play with Hrom.

Val shifts, swiping at the sweat on his forehead and wonders how Ben isn’t absolutely drenched in sweat by now. Val’s still not used to the sticky heat of Tampa, and even in shorts and a light shirt, just watching Ben run around like a maniac is making him overheat.

He waits five more minutes, but the skies are slowly growing darker, black clouds rolling in quicker than he’d like, and calls out, “Ben!” He looks up at Val, smiling and giving two thumbs up, making Val roll his eyes. “We can’t stay forever, you know!”

Ben waves him off and beside him, Brayden laughs softly, setting his hands on his hips. He looks up to the sky and seems to notice the same thing as Val because he starts to move forward, towards Ben.

“As much as I’d hate to break this up, we should probably head inside,” He says, holding the leash out for Ben to attach Hrom to.

Ben frowns and Hrom seems to have settled finally, exhausted from playing for so long, probably, and they get him attached and head inside. Val holds the door for them and Brayden leads them to where Hrom’s cell is. Ben says his goodbye, lingering at the caged door as Hrom presses his face against where Ben has his hand. Val knows the helpless look in Ben’s eyes and sighs, realizing there’s nothing he can say now to change his mind.

They eventually drag Ben away from the door, Brayden leading them out into the office area. Hrom cries out and Ben looks back over his shoulder helplessly. Val grabs ahold of his shirt and pulls.

“You’ll see him again,” He promises. Brayden glances back at them at that and smiles.

“So, it’s a yes?” He asks, happily.

Val looks to Ben, who still has his sad eyes on, then back to Brayden, who chuckles lightly.

“Well, in that case, we can do the paperwork today, if you’re sure.” He says and Ben perks right up.

“Where do I sign?” He asks quickly.Brayden laughs loudly then, eyes closed and head thrown back. Val has to look at the ceiling until his stomach stops fluttering.

 

* * *

 

When they make it to the front office again, there are a few people behind that desk area who all smile at Ben and Val. Ondrej, from earlier is there, too, without a kitten this time.

He smiles at them. “Did we manage to find one today?”

Ben smiles brightly, nodding. Brayden steps behind the desk and up to the computer, tapping away at the keyboard. “Ben really hit it off with Hrom,” He says, glancing up and making eye contact with Val, who rolls his eyes, as if to say ‘understatement’, making Brayden smile as he goes back to typing.

“Hrom? Really?” One of the other volunteers asks. Val looks over at the short brunette who spoke and raises an eyebrow. “Aw, Pally, he’s your favorite,”

Ondrej -- ‘Pally’ -- shrugs. “I’m happy he’s going to a good home.”

“Yeah, Johnny, we can’t all just adopt every animal we start to like,” another voice calls out.

“Oh, like you’re one to talk, Alex.” He shoots back.

They get into a small argument, which is mostly teasing, from what Val can tell. Brayden stands, stepping away from the computer, moving over to where a printer is spitting out a handful of papers. He brings them all over and sets them on the desk, gesturing Ben forward.

“Ignore them,” He waves his hand in the others direction. He goes through the papers with Ben, pointing out the details that a responsible pet owner should be aware of. “And this is the fee. We can hold him for you for a week if you’re not comfortable making the decision today, but after that, he’s made available for others to adopt.” He pauses, flipping the page. “This is where you sign if you’re sure you want to take him home today,” He has a pen in his hand but doesn’t set it down. Val glances at Ben, who is looking down, chewing on his lip, and sighs.

“Brian will love him,” He assures Ben, who turns to him abruptly, face breaking out into a huge smile.

“Yeah?” He nods to himself. “Yeah, ok. Can I have the pen?”

Brayden smiles softly at Val and hands the pen to Ben. Behind them, the other volunteers clap and cheer as Ben signs.

 

* * *

 

Johnny and Alex both say goodbye to Ben and Val while Ondrej goes to get Hrom. Brayden leads them outside into the parking lot and to a side gate where he says Pally will bring him out. Ben stands right in front of it, but Brayden and Val stand out of the way, still near each other.

“That was nice of you,” Brayden says, looking down at his feet, hands deep in his pocket. “I mean, considering you didn’t really seem into the dogs or him getting one. You still gave him the little confidence boost that he needed.”

Val frowns. “I don’t _not_ like dogs,” he says. “He just promised me we’d get lunch four hours ago.”

Brayden laughs. “Well, that’s a relief.”

Val raises his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

Brayden blushes, glancing up at Val quickly before looking back down. “Yeah. I don’t know if I can like a person who doesn’t like dogs.” He pauses, biting at the corner of his lip.

Val licks his own lips. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah,” Brayden says breathily, finally looking Val in the eyes, a smirk settled nicely on his red face.

“I’m really more of a cat person,” He says truthfully, and Brayden’s face falls slightly, so he continues. “but I could be persuaded,” and is rewarded with a breathtaking smile from Brayden, wide enough to show off his cute little pointy teeth. Warmth settles in Val's stomach as he takes out his phone and hands it to Brayden. “Maybe you could change my mind over dinner?”

“Tonight?” Brayden asks quickly, tapping in his number and handing it back.

Val hums his assent. “That sounds wonderful.”

A large grating noise snaps them out of their bubble. Val turns just in time to see Ben get tackled by the giant Dalmatian he just adopted and realizes he had to drive home with that. He must make a face, because Brayden laughs.

“Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me,” He says.

“I have faith in you,” Val promises, watching Ben thank Pally and start leading Hrom to his truck. Before Pally walks over to them, Val leans down, pressing his lips softly to Brayden’s cheek, feeling the other man tense slightly. When he pulls away, Brayden is beet red and biting his lip again. “What time do you get off?” He asks, noticing Pally coming closer from the corner of his eye.

“Uh, um, six?” Brayden stutters.

“Well, I’ll see you then,” He promises and starts to walk away, heading towards where Ben is still struggling to get Hrom into the car. He turns to look back just as Pally wraps his arms around a still blushing Brayden and shakes him. He thinks he hears him say ‘atta boy’, but maybe not. 

Alex, Johnny, and two others step outside and mob Brayden, who takes it all in stride. He looks up, catching Val’s eye, the promise of what's to come still lingering. Val steps behind Ben then, getting his attention. “I’ll drive, you sit in the back with him.” He holds his hand out for the keys and is awarded them immediately.

They settle into the car and Val takes out his phone, pulling up Google. He finds what he’s looking for and links it to a message, adding Brayden’s number.

_Link: screening of “Must Love Dogs” @West Pointe Drive-In_ **(4:57 pm)**

_Dinner and a movie?_ **(4:57 pm)**

He gets a reply immediately.

_it's a date._ **(4:58 pm)**

He shakes his head, starting the car.

“Hey, can you stop at a PetSmart? I need to buy… everything,” Ben says from the backseat. Val gives him a look in the rearview mirror, but sighs, backing out of the parking space. They drive past the group of volunteers, still standing outside.

Brayden waves and Val can’t help it.

He smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> there is no way they're still publicly screening must love dogs but shhh


End file.
